BMW Tests Lightweight Assembly for Electric Cars

9/18/2013 4:13PM

The new BMW i3 electric car has an expensive battery and a costly carbon fiber body. But BMW executives say they will make money on it because of the unusually low-cost way they’re putting it together. Joe White has details on the News Hub.

This transcript has been automatically generated and may not be 100% accurate.

... the the ... new sub at the beest live ... the new BMW rightfully lots of time and expense and that's when a costly final twenty ... executives still think though my money on its ... head of explain ... now ... is Wall Street Journal Global Gazeta that show winds ... show thank you Brian much for being map was loving electric cars stories that are ... somewhat controversial ... crew was ... thinking you are at the opening of the new BMW factory that will make the company's new fleet of electric cars ... tells about this factory was the significance of it ... well I e I gotta What have a look at it up before today but Italy is really what they're trying to do with it BMW ... is ... put into practice a theory about reinventing the way cars are put together this been knocking around in the industry for some years ... and basically the idea is a set of using steel one and an aluminum and and and metals like that ... you build a car out of carbon fiber ... to the tothe underbody ... and plastic exterior and you just you just ... slashed the cost ... of the equipment and the floor space ... that you need to put this together I mean it's all of our our viewers may remember of ... I think it's one is Tom Cruise movie ... are aware of ... the car was parked cars are put together by a few robots and very small building in the meat they shot out of it ... on ... that's ... not ... what they're doing it the ability of that's the direction they're going ... on ... that this is a different approach to building cars that they hope will make it ... cheaper ... on an offset the costs of these exotic materials that are putting in the vehicle ... now what one other things and and Taiwan as I can either drive a new carriage and Robin damp humid but that is of the cost with rust and eventually you need to ... get a new one because that would be so much of the health half cuz it was ... all rusted away from if it's common fibers Montana Ross Devitt's plastic it's not Timiraos and the nice things just last for as long ... as that part of as I can be a problem old will not just the ... just up from a few years down the road will lead ... what they assert less was but I don't have to spend money on a Rust proofing system in the factory ... they probably won't last forever with plastic ... breaks ... plastic fades ... off ... I think repairing carbon fiber body says are in the collision will probably ... be out of a challenge for people in the body of the body shop repair industry were used to dealing with steel ... these are all things about the play out over time ... but but certainly that we were talking about a car that will have up to the different footprint in the world ... of them then is that ... the two two-and-a-half fund Steel Partners these are these are these are cars that are meant to be ... later in a large part because they gotta carry around a heavy battery ... in a way of all this technology the carbon fiber all the rest of it is aimed at compensating for the fact that both the lithium ion battery in if more of this car ... is still way too heavy and way too expensive to be fully competitive ... and will act How will all of this kid that costs while right How what how will ... how is manufactured to meet keep ... keep costs down because what one other things you've you've one on to cars he won low-cost ... well yes so I think a lot of what they're doing here is is there there are reducing the investment here's an example is that it's pretty easy ... for me to grasp ... normally the case as to what they call the paint shop in a car factory costs something like two hundred and fifty million dollars ... um and that's a win all the environmental here in all the rest are out of this a lot a ... lot of capital involved there ... BMW tells me that I'm ... the paint shop for the the high three in the high heat the carbon fiber cars were talk about ... costs about fifty million dollars or about a fifth its smaller ... it's not as complicated as they don't use water so they don't have to treat the water going out which is ... which is a significant expense ... so they've they've cut by a unit from the cover two hundred million dollars roughly ... the investment ... required just to ... see these vehicles ... now and it throughout the factory they they argued as late as I walk around with one of their second day of shape or size ... that it just about every point ... you could say will you know the robots are less expensive because they don't have to carry as much weight ... on ... it repaired with steel car ... the the body shop where the left the shop where they make the parts is smaller and has fewer presses and you were ... expensive guys for making the cards ... I'm not one big fear here I can tell you for sure that these and that these swath of cuts in investment costs to offset the additional costs of the carbon fiber probably not ... but that's the direction they're going to try to to try to make this economical over the life starts and the pictures we were just looking and now at this just a very clean octave and a few tough at least in my life and ... that the one both look splendid thank you Brian much Joe White of the Wall Street John Wood presented time so ...